Customized user interface for electronic communications

ABSTRACT

Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosure improve the functionality of electronic messaging software and systems by providing a customized display of avatars corresponding to users exchanging electronic communications, such as short message service (SMS) or multimedia service (MMS) texts and emails. The appearance of the displayed avatars may be dynamically altered based on the actions taken by the users, as well as based on the content of the messages between the users or information from other sources.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/492,077, filed Apr. 20, 2017, which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The popularity of electronic communications, particularly instantmessaging, continues to grow. Users increasingly share media contentitems such as electronic images and videos with each other, reflecting aglobal demand to communicate more visually. Similarly, usersincreasingly seek to communicate with each other in more interactiveways via electronic communications, thus providing challenges to socialnetworking systems seeking to facilitate such communications betweentheir members. Embodiments of the present disclosure address these andother issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. Like numerals havingdifferent letter suffixes may represent different instances of similarcomponents. Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and notlimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding amessaging system, according to exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating data which may be stored inthe database of the messaging server system, according to variousexemplary embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process according to variousaspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 5A-5D are screenshots illustrating the aspects of the methoddescribed in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a representative softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some exemplary embodiments, able to read instructions froma machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the inventivesubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosure improve thefunctionality of electronic messaging software and systems by providinga customized display of avatars corresponding to users exchangingelectronic communications, such as short message service (SMS) ormultimedia service (MMS) texts and emails. The appearance of thedisplayed avatars may be dynamically altered based on the actions takenby the users, as well as based on the content of the messages betweenthe users or information from other sources.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a messaging system 100for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over anetwork. The messaging system 100 includes multiple client devices 102,each of which hosts a number of applications including a messagingclient application 104. Each messaging client application 104 iscommunicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging clientapplication 104 and a messaging server system 108 via a network 106(e.g., the Internet). As used herein, the term “client device” may referto any machine that interfaces to a communications network (such asnetwork 106) to obtain resources from one or more server systems orother client devices. A client device may be, but is not limited to, amobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digital assistants(PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks, laptops,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communicationdevice that a user may use to access a network.

In the example shown in FIG. 1 , each messaging client application 104is able to communicate and exchange data with another messaging clientapplication 104 and with the messaging server system 108 via the network106. The data exchanged between messaging client applications 104, andbetween a messaging client application 104 and the messaging serversystem 108, includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) aswell as payload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimediadata).

The network 106 may include, or operate in conjunction with, an ad hocnetwork, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), alocal area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network(WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), theInternet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS) network,a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network,another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.For example, a network or a portion of a network may include a wirelessor cellular network and the coupling may be a Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications(GSM) connection, or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. Inthis example, the coupling may implement any of a variety of types ofdata transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio TransmissionTechnology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA),Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long TermEvolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard settingorganizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfertechnology.

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, it will be appreciated that the location ofcertain functionality either within the messaging client application 104or the messaging server system 108 is a design choice. For example, itmay be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology andfunctionality within the messaging server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the messaging clientapplication 104 where a client device 102 has a sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Thisdata may include, message content, client device information,geolocation information, media annotation and overlays, message contentpersistence conditions, social network information, and live eventinformation, as examples. Data exchanges within the messaging system 100are invoked and controlled through functions available via userinterfaces (UIs) of the messaging client application 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, an application server 112. Theapplication server 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which is stored dataassociated with messages processed by the application server 112.

Dealing specifically with the Application Program Interface (API) server110, this server receives and transmits message data (e.g., commands andmessage payloads) between the client device 102 and the applicationserver 112. Specifically, the Application Program Interface (API) server110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that canbe called or queried by the messaging client application 104 in order toinvoke functionality of the application server 112. The ApplicationProgram Interface (API) server 110 exposes various functions supportedby the application server 112, including account registration, loginfunctionality, the sending of messages, via the application server 112,from a particular messaging client application 104 to another messagingclient application 104, the sending of electronic media files (e.g.,electronic images or video) from a messaging client application 104 tothe messaging server application 114, and for possible access by anothermessaging client application 104, the setting of a collection of mediadata (e.g., story), the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of aclient device 102, the retrieval of such collections, the retrieval ofmessages and content, the adding and deletion of friends to a socialgraph, the location of friends within a social graph, opening andapplication event (e.g., relating to the messaging client application104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116 and a social network system 122. The messagingserver application 114 implements a number of message processingtechnologies and functions, particularly related to the aggregation andother processing of content (e.g., textual and multimedia contentincluding images and video clips) included in messages received frommultiple instances of the messaging client application 104. As will bedescribed in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories or galleries). These collections are then made available, by themessaging server application 114, to the messaging client application104. Other processor and memory intensive processing of data may also beperformed server-side by the messaging server application 114, in viewof the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to electronic images or video received within thepayload of a message at the messaging server application 114.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions services, and makes these functions and services available tothe messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 within thedatabase 120. Examples of functions and services supported by the socialnetwork system 122 include the identification of other users of themessaging system 100 with which a particular user has relationships oris “following”, and also the identification of other entities andinterests of a particular user.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114.

Some embodiments may include one or more wearable devices, such as apendant with an integrated camera that is integrated with, incommunication with, or coupled to, a client device 102. Any desiredwearable device may be used in conjunction with the embodiments of thepresent disclosure, such as a watch, eyeglasses, goggles, a headset, awristband, earbuds, clothing (such as a hat or jacket with integratedelectronics), a clip-on electronic device, or any other wearabledevices.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to exemplary embodiments. Specifically,the messaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging clientapplication 104 and the application server 112, which in turn embody anumber of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204 and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server application 114. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message, orcollection of messages (e.g., a SNAPCHAT® story), selectively displayand enable access to messages and associated content via the messagingclient application 104.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image, video and audiodata). In some examples, a collection of content (e.g., messages,including images, video, text, and audio) may be organized into an“event gallery” or an “event story.” Such a collection may be madeavailable for a specified time period, such as the duration of an eventto which the content relates. For example, content relating to a musicconcert may be made available as a “story” for the duration of thatmusic concert. The collection management system 204 may also beresponsible for publishing an icon that provides notification of theexistence of a particular collection to the user interface of themessaging client application 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion of usergenerated content into a collection. In such cases, the curationinterface 208 operates to automatically make payments to such users forthe use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with amessage. For example, the annotation system 206 provides functionsrelated to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messagesprocessed by the messaging system 100. The annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay (e.g., a SNAPCHAT® filter) to themessaging client application 104 based on a geolocation of the clientdevice 102. In another example, the annotation system 206 operativelysupplies a media overlay to the messaging client application 104 basedon other information, such as, social network information of the user ofthe client device 102. A media overlay may include audio and visualcontent and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content includepictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects. An example of avisual effect includes color overlaying. The audio and visual content orthe visual effects can be applied to a media content item (e.g., animage or video) at the client device 102. For example, the media overlayincluding text that can be overlaid on top of a photograph/electronicimage generated by the client device 102. In another example, the mediaoverlay includes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venicebeach), a name of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g.,Beach Coffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 usesthe geolocation of the client device 102 to identify a media overlaythat includes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the clientdevice 102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated withthe merchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 118.

In some exemplary embodiments, embodiments of the present disclosure maygenerate, display, distribute, and apply media overlays to media contentitems. For example, embodiments may utilize media content itemsgenerated by a client device 102 (e.g., an image or video captured usinga digital camera coupled to the client device 102) to generate mediaoverlays that can be applied to other media content items.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram 300 illustrating data 300 that is storedin the database 120 of the messaging server system 108, according tocertain exemplary embodiments. While the content of the database 120 isshown to comprise a number of tables, the data could be stored in othertypes of data structures (e.g., as an object-oriented database).

The database 120 includes message data stored within a message table314. The entity table 302 stores entity data, including an entity graph304. Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table302 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects,places, events etc. Regardless of type, any entity regarding which themessaging server system 108 stores data may be a recognized entity. Eachentity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as an entity typeidentifier (not shown).

The entity graph 304 furthermore stores information regardingrelationships and associations between entities. Such relationships maybe social, professional (e.g., work at a common corporation ororganization) interested-based or activity-based, merely for example.

The database 120 also stores annotation data, in the example form offilters, in an annotation table 312. Filters for which data is storedwithin the annotation table 312 are associated with and applied tovideos (for which data is stored in a video table 310) or images (forwhich data is stored in an image table 308). Filters, in one example,are overlays that are displayed as overlaid on an image or video duringpresentation to a recipient user. Filters may be of varies types,including a user-selected filters from a gallery of filters presented toa sending user by the messaging client application 104 when the sendinguser is composing a message.

Other types of filters include geolocation filters (also known asGeofilters) which may be presented to a sending user based on geographiclocation. For example, geolocation filters specific to a neighborhood orspecial location may be presented within a user interface by themessaging client application 104, based on geolocation informationdetermined by a GPS unit of the client device 102. Another type offilter is a data filter, which may be selectively presented to a sendinguser by the messaging client application 104, based on other inputs orinformation gathered by the client device 102 during the messagecreation process. Example of data filters include current temperature ata specific location, a current speed at which a sending user istraveling, battery life for a client device 102 or the current time.Other annotation data that may be stored within the image table 308 isso-called “Lens” data. A “Lens” may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As mentioned above, the video table 310 stores video data which, in oneembodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 314. Similarly, the image table 308 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe entity table 302. The entity table 302 may associate variousannotations from the annotation table 312 with various images and videosstored in the image table 308 and the video table 310.

A story table 306 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a SNAPCHAT® story or a gallery). The creation of aparticular collection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., eachuser for which a record is maintained in the entity table 302). A usermay create a “personal story” in the form of a collection of contentthat has been created and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, theuser interface of the messaging client application 104 may include anicon that is user selectable to enable a sending user to add specificcontent to his or her personal story.

A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collectionof content from multiple users that is created manually, automaticallyor using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example,a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted contentfrom varies locations and events. Users, whose client devices havelocation services enabled and are at a common location event at aparticular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via auser interface of the messaging client application 104, to contributecontent to a particular live story. The live story may be identified tothe user by the messaging client application 104, based on his or herlocation. The end result is a “live story” told from a communityperspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story,”which enables a user whose client device 102 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

Embodiments of the present disclosure may generate and presentcustomized images for use within electronic messages/communications suchas short message service (SMS) or multimedia message service (MMS) textsand emails. The customized images may also be utilized in conjunctionwith the SNAPCHAT stories, SNAPCHAT filters, and ephemeral messagingfunctionality discussed herein.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary process according to various aspects of thepresent disclosure. In this example, method 400 includes receiving anelectronic communication (405), transmitting the electroniccommunication to one or more computing devices (410), analyzing thecontent of the electronic communication to identify a tone associatedwith the content (415), determining a mood of one or more users based onthe identified tone (420), retrieving avatar characteristics for one ormore users from a database (425), generating one or more avatars basedon the avatar characteristics and the identified tone (430), andpresenting the generated avatar(s) on the respective display screens ofone or more computing devices (435). The steps of method 400 may beperformed in whole or in part, may be performed in conjunction eachother as well as with some or all of the steps in other methods, and maybe performed by any number of different systems, such as the systemsdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 7 .

In method 400, the system may receive (405) an electronic communicationfrom, and transmit the electronic communication to (410), a variety ofdifferent systems and devices. For example, messaging system 108 in FIG.1 may receive a electronic communication from a first client computingdevice 102 via a network 106 (e.g., the Internet) and transmit theelectronic communication to a second client computing device 102 via thenetwork 106.

Electronic communications (and their content) exchanged betweencomputing devices (which may also be referred to as a “conversation” inthis Application) may be analyzed (415) to identify a tone associatedwith the conversation and to determine a mood (420) of a user associatedwith the communication. As a threshold matter, the system may, prior toperforming the steps of method 400, confirm authorization by one or moreusers to analyze the user's communications. Such authorization may beobtained via acceptance of a terms of service for utilizing an onlinesocial network or other service provided by the system, by acceptance ona case-by-case basis by the user (e.g., via popups displayed on theuser's computing device) or using any other suitable method forobtaining authorization by the user(s).

The system may identify any number of different tones associated with anelectronic communication or group of electronic communications. In thiscontext, the “tone” identified for a communication may include anyattitude, sentiment, emotional state, and the like. For example, thesystem may analyze a series of communications between a first user and asecond user regarding a successful interview by the first user thatresulted in a job offer. In this example, the system may identifyvarious “positive” tones such as “excitement,” “pride,” “relief,” andthe like in the messages by the first user. Messages from the seconduser may likewise be positive (e.g., “congratulatory,” “happy,” etc.).The communications may include various other tones (e.g., broadlyclassified as “neutral,” or “negative”).

For example, the first user may, along with the positive comments,include some content in the communications having a generally negativetone. The user might convey “apprehension,” or “nervousness” at theprospect of switching jobs, as well as “sadness” or “loss” at theprospect of leaving friends and co-workers at his/her current job.Likewise, the second user may include comments in the communicationsthat are “neutral” (e.g., a question such as “when do you start?” or“how long was the interview?”) as well as comments that are “negative”(e.g., sadness over the prospect of the first user moving out of townfor the new job, etc.).

The tone of a communication or group of communications in a conversationmay be determined based on any desired scale, and comments havingdifferent tones within the same conversation may be analyzed todetermine an overall tone of the conversation. For example, “positive,”“neutral,” and “negative” tones may each include different numericscales and weights. Continuing the new job example above, the firstuser's communications to the second user might include five positivestatements, eight neutral statements, and two negative statements. Thesystem may give neutral statements less weight than positive statementsor negative statements, and determine that the overall tone of theconversation is positive based on the greater number of positivestatements compared to negative statements.

The system may determine the mood (420) of the user based on theidentified tones. Moods may be characterized on a numeric scale, may beassociated with different key words or terms, and may overlap any of thevalues or keywords assigned to the tone of a conversation. For example,if the tone of a conversation is determined to be “sad,” the mood of oneor more of the users involved in the conversation may likewise bedetermined to be “sad.”

The system may analyze the content of electronic communications based onthe form of the content in the communications. For example, electroniccommunications containing text content provided by a user (e.g., via theinput device of the user's computing device and transmitted in textmessages, emails, etc.) may be analyzed by a text analysis softwareapplication to identify words and phrases and the respectivetone/sentiment of such words and phrases in the context of thecommunication. Similarly, voice or audio input provided by a user in anelectronic communication (e.g., in a voice communication or an audiofile attached to or embedded in an email or text message) may beanalyzed using a voice analysis software application. Image analysissoftware and video analysis software could likewise be used byembodiments of the disclosure to analyze image and video content incommunications between users.

The system may determine a user's mood based on data from additionalsources, such as from calendar entries on the user's computing device,information retrieved from social media networks to which a userbelongs, and information retrieved from a sensor coupled to the user'scomputing device. For example, the system may identify an event, (suchas a party, birthday, anniversary, etc.) on the user's calendar anddetermine the user's mood based on the event. Relatively “positive”events (e.g., a birthday party) may thus be reflected by showing theuser's avatar smiling, along with clothing or other accessories (e.g., abirthday cake in front of the user's avatar) appropriate to the event.Relatively “negative” events (e.g., a scheduled root canal) may beidentified by the system and reflected by showing the user frowning inpain and holding his/her jaw.

The system may also analyze data from sensors coupled to the user'scomputing device (e.g., GPS sensors, accelerometers, etc.) to determinethe user's mood based on the user's location and activities. Forexample, the system may use location and accelerometer data from theuser's mobile device to determine the user is currently jogging orworking out, and depict the user's avatar as sweating, lifting weights,exhausted, etc. as a result. In this manner, the system canautomatically provide visual representations of events involving theusers in a conversation, thus helping to spur additional conversationabout such events.

In some embodiments, the system may determine the mood for a user, orgenerate a particular avatar, based on the user's relationship withother users. For example, the system may identify the relationshipsbetween a first user and other users to which the user communicates. Forexample, the system may identify friendships, romantic relationships,work colleagues, etc. In such a case, the system may determine from thetone of a communication involving the first user that a first user'smood as “sad” and generate a first avatar of the first user that iscrying. The system may display this first (crying) avatar of the firstuser to the computing devices of users having a relatively closerelationship with the user (e.g., friends, family, romantic interests).By contrast, the system may generate a second avatar having a relativelyneutral expression to display to the computing devices of users having arelatively distant relationship with the user (e.g., acquaintances, workcolleagues, etc.). Accordingly, some users may see the first avatar ofthe user, while other users will see the second avatar. In this manner,the system can help convey the first user's mood to other users withwhom the first user is close, but present the second avatar to maintaina more neutral posture with users with whom the user has a more distantrelationship.

In method 400, the system retrieves avatar characteristics (425) for oneor more users associated with the electronic communications received(405) and transmitted (410) by the system. Additionally oralternatively, the system may retrieve avatar characteristics for a userunrelated to an electronic communication, a user listed in the contactlist of the user of the system, a user of a social network identified bythe user of the system, or any other individual.

As used herein, an “avatar” of a user is any visual representation ofuser. The avatar of a user may be based on characteristics derived fromimages of the user in conjunction with the avatar characteristicsidentified from the user's relationships with other users. Alternativelyor additionally, the user may select and customize characteristics ofthe user's avatar via the user's computing device. Such avatarcharacteristics may include, for example, the user's bodily features(e.g., muscular, thin, etc.), facial features, clothing and accessories,text displayed in conjunction with the avatar, and images displayed inconjunction with the avatar. The avatar characteristics may be retrieved(425) from a variety of sources, such as the local memory of a deviceperforming the steps of method 400 (e.g., client device 102 in FIG. 1 )as well as from other systems and devices, such as a database or server.

The system generates an avatar of a user (430) based on the retrievedavatar characteristics, as well as the identified mood for the user. Insome embodiments, the system may generate features of the avatar of auser, such as the user's hairstyle, eyeglasses, skin tone, clothing, andother features using the avatar characteristics, while varying theuser's facial expressions, body language, and other features based onthe identified mood. For example, if the user's mood is determined to be“positive” or “happy” the system may generate the avatar as smiling, asdepicted in FIG. 5A. By contrast, if the user's mood is determined to be“negative” or “sad,” the system may generate the avatar as frowning. Insome embodiments, the system may also generate a “neutral” expression orbody language to correspond, for example, to a user who hasn't made anypositive or negative statements in a conversation.

An avatar for a user may be generated (430) based on an image (still orvideo) of the user. Likewise, the mood of the user may be determinedbased on such an image. For example, a user may capture a “selfie” (animage of the user's face captured using a camera coupled to the user'smobile computing device) and submit it to the system. The system mayperform a software facial recognition analysis on the image to generatethe avatar of the user, as well as to examine the user's facial featuresand apparent actions within the image (e.g., smiling, frowning,laughing, crying, etc.) to determine the user's mood. The system maythen generate the facial features of the user's avatar in accordancewith the identified facial features from the user's image. The mood ofthe user may also be determined based on other input from the user, suchas an explicit selection (e.g., from the user's mobile computing device)by the user to display a “happy,” “sad,” or “neutral” avatar appearance.In this manner, the user can override the system's interpretation of theuser's mood and display the specific avatar appearance the user wishesto show other users.

The mood of a user may be determined on any desired scale. In someembodiments, for example, the user's mood may first be characterizedwith a categorical term, such as “happy,” “sad,” “angry,” “neutral,”“tired,” “scared,” etc. Within each categorical term, the system maythen determine the user's mood among a plurality of mood levels toreflect the degree to which a user is “happy,” “sad,” etc. In someembodiments the mood levels may be ranged on a numerical scale (e.g.,1-10). The level of a user's mood may in turn affect the facialexpression or other features on the user's avatar generated by thesystem and presented on the display screens of the users' computingdevices.

For example, the system may determine a user is slightly sad (e.g., a 1on a scale of 1-10) and represent this emotion with a slight frown onthe avatar's face. By contrast, where the system determines the user isvery happy (e.g., a 10 on a 1-10 scale), the system may depict theuser's avatar with a large smile, laughing, with the avatar's armsraised overhead. Other features, such as text and images, may bedisplayed to help convey the user's mood as well. In FIG. 5D, forexample, the system adds the “quittin' time” content to convey the useris happy to be leaving work for the day.

The avatar may be generated in conjunction with a media content item.The media content item may include static (i.e., non-moving) avatars aswell as dynamic (i.e., moving) avatars. In FIGS. 5A-5C, for example,user avatars involved in a conversation (e.g., an electronic group chat)are displayed along the top of the chat interface window, and presentedon the display screens of the computing devices of the users in thechat. The display of avatars may be dynamic, and can extend fromdisplaying the avatar of a single user (e.g., starting a chat) in FIG.5A, to displaying the avatars of multiple users involved in the chat, asshown in FIG. 5C. Likewise, the facial expressions and other features ofthe users may change dynamically as the conversation progresses and asthe users' moods are reassessed by the system.

The appearance of the avatars generated by the system and presented onthe display screens of the users' devices may further be modified basedon actions taken by the respective users during a conversation. Forexample, a user may select an option within the group chat displayed inFIGS. 5A-5C to change the user's status from “online” to “away” or “donot disturb.” In response, the system may modify the avatarcorresponding to the user from displaying the user's avatar above thetop line of the chat window (in FIG. 5A) to showing the user's avatar“hiding” below the top line of the chat window in a contracted state.The contracted state could also be shown in response to the user notparticipating in the chat for a predetermined period of time, muting thegroup conversation the user is involved in, or other actions. Otherrepresentations, such as showing the avatar turning his/her back couldalso be used to indicate a user is unavailable, or not participating, ina conversation.

The system may alter the appearance of the avatars to correspond to anydesired action (or inaction) by the users. In some embodiments, forexample, the system may generate avatars based on a user's interactionwith software applications on the user's computing device. In a specificexample, the system may detect that a user has opened a softwareapplication on the users' computing device for displaying a live imagefrom a camera coupled to the user's computing device. In response, thesystem may generate an avatar as part of a media overlay applied to thelive image, as depicted in FIG. 5D. The image and media overlay in FIG.5D may be displayed within the chat window depicted in FIGS. 5A-5C, orattached to another form of electronic communication (e.g., email, text,etc.) to another user.

A variety of media content items containing the avatars of users may begenerated and displayed in conjunction with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In this context, a “media content item” may include any typeof electronic media in any format. For example, a media content item mayinclude an image in JPG format, an image in PNG format, a video in FLVformat, a video in AVI format, etc. In some exemplary embodiments, amedia content item may include content that is captured using an imagecapture device or component (such as a digital camera) coupled to, or incommunication with, a system performing the functionality of method 400.In the exemplary system 700 depicted in FIG. 7 may include a digitalcamera as one of input components 728. Additionally or alternatively,the media content item may be received from another system or device. InFIG. 1 , for example, a client device 102 performing the functionalityof method 400 may receive a media content item from another clientdevice 102 or other system via network 106.

In some embodiments, the media content item generated by the system maybe included in a media overlay such as a “sticker” (i.e., an image thatcan be overlaid onto other images), filter (discussed above), or anothermedia overlay. Such overlays may include static (i.e., non-moving)features as well as dynamic (i.e., moving) features.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may transmit and receiveelectronic communications containing avatars, media content items, mediaoverlays, or other content any form of electronic communication, such asSMS texts, MMS texts, emails, and other communications. Avatars andmedia content items included in such communications may be provided asattachments, displayed inline in the message, within media overlays, orconveyed in any other suitable manner.

Software Architecture

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary softwarearchitecture 606, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 6 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 606 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 700 of FIG. 7 that includes, among other things,processors 704, memory 714, and I/O components 718. A representativehardware layer 652 is illustrated and can represent, for example, themachine 700 of FIG. 7 . The representative hardware layer 652 includes aprocessing unit 654 having associated executable instructions 604.Executable instructions 604 represent the executable instructions of thesoftware architecture 606, including implementation of the methods,components and so forth described herein. The hardware layer 652 alsoincludes memory or storage modules memory/storage 656, which also haveexecutable instructions 604. The hardware layer 652 may also compriseother hardware 658.

As used herein, the term “component” may refer to a device, physicalentity or logic having boundaries defined by function or subroutinecalls, branch points, application program interfaces (APIs), or othertechnologies that provide for the partitioning or modularization ofparticular processing or control functions. Components may be combinedvia their interfaces with other components to carry out a machineprocess. A component may be a packaged functional hardware unit designedfor use with other components and a part of a program that usuallyperforms a particular function of related functions.

Components may constitute either software components (e.g., codeembodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A“hardware component” is a tangible unit capable of performing certainoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain physicalmanner. In various exemplary embodiments, one or more computer systems(e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system, or aserver computer system) or one or more hardware components of a computersystem (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may be configured bysoftware (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardwarecomponent that operates to perform certain operations as describedherein. A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations.

A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor, such as aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may also includeprogrammable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured bysoftware to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations.

A processor may be, or in include, any circuit or virtual circuit (aphysical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor)that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands”, “op codes”, “machine code”, etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. Aprocessor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), aReduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC)or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-coreprocessor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referredto as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously.

Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or “hardware-implementedcomponent”) should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be thatan entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g.,hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in acertain manner or to perform certain operations described herein.Considering embodiments in which hardware components are temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need notbe configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example,where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processorconfigured by software to become a special-purpose processor, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respectively differentspecial-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardwarecomponents) at different times. Software accordingly configures aparticular processor or processors, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitutea different hardware component at a different instance of time. Hardwarecomponents can provide information to, and receive information from,other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardwarecomponents may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Wheremultiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications maybe achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. Inembodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured orinstantiated at different times, communications between such hardwarecomponents may be achieved, for example, through the storage andretrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware components have access.

For example, one hardware component may perform an operation and storethe output of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented components.

Moreover, the one or more processors may also operate to supportperformance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing”environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, atleast some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers(as examples of machines including processors), with these operationsbeing accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or moreappropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application Program Interface (API)).The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployedacross a number of machines. In some exemplary embodiments, theprocessors or processor-implemented components may be located in asingle geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an officeenvironment, or a server farm). In other exemplary embodiments, theprocessors or processor-implemented components may be distributed acrossa number of geographic locations.

In the exemplary architecture of FIG. 6 , the software architecture 606may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 606 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 602, libraries 620,applications 616 and a presentation layer 614. Operationally, theapplications 616 or other components within the layers may invokeapplication programming interface (API) API calls 608 through thesoftware stack and receive messages 612 in response to the API calls608. The layers illustrated are representative in nature and not allsoftware architectures have all layers. For example, some mobile orspecial purpose operating systems may not provide aframeworks/middleware 618, while others may provide such a layer. Othersoftware architectures may include additional or different layers.

The operating system 602 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 602 may include, for example, akernel 622, services 624 and drivers 626. The kernel 622 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 622 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 624 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 626 areresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 626 include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 620 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 616 or other components or layers. The libraries 620provide functionality that allows other software components to performtasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 602 functionality (e.g., kernel 622,services 624 or drivers 626). The libraries 620 may include systemlibraries 644 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions suchas memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions,mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 620 mayinclude API libraries 646 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries tosupport presentation and manipulation of various media format such asMPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., anOpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and 3D in a graphiccontent on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite that may providevarious relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit thatmay provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 620may also include a wide variety of other libraries 648 to provide manyother APIs to the applications 616 and other softwarecomponents/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 618 (also sometimes referred to as middleware)provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by theapplications 616 or other software components/modules. For example, theframeworks/middleware 618 may provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 618 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications616 or other software components/modules, some of which may be specificto a particular operating system 602 or platform.

The applications 616 include built-in applications 638 or third-partyapplications 640. Examples of representative built-in applications 638may include, but are not limited to, a contacts application, a browserapplication, a book reader application, a location application, a mediaapplication, a messaging application, or a game application. Third-partyapplications 640 may include an application developed using the ANDROID™or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than thevendor of the particular platform, and may be mobile software running ona mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, orother mobile operating systems. The third-party applications 640 mayinvoke the API calls 608 provided by the mobile operating system (suchas operating system 602) to facilitate functionality described herein.

The applications 616 may use built in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 622, services 624 or drivers 626), libraries 620, andframeworks/middleware 618 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systemsinteractions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such aspresentation layer 614. In these systems, the application/component“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/componentthat interact with a user.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components (also referred toherein as “modules”) of a machine 700, according to some exemplaryembodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable medium(e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 7 shows adiagrammatic representation of the machine 700 in the example form of acomputer system, within which instructions 710 (e.g., software, aprogram, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code)for causing the machine 700 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, theinstructions 710 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 710 transform the general,non-programmed machine 700 into a particular machine 700 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 700 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 700 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 710, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 700. Further, while only a single machine 700 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 710 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 700 may include processors 704, memory memory/storage 706,and I/O components 718, which may be configured to communicate with eachother such as via a bus 702. The memory/storage 706 may include a memory714, such as a main memory, or other memory storage, and a storage unit716, both accessible to the processors 704 such as via the bus 702. Thestorage unit 716 and memory 714 store the instructions 710 embodying anyone or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Theinstructions 710 may also reside, completely or partially, within thememory 714, within the storage unit 716, within at least one of theprocessors 704 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or anysuitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine700. Accordingly, the memory 714, the storage unit 716, and the memoryof processors 704 are examples of machine-readable media.

As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readablemedium,” or the like may refer to any component, device or othertangible media able to store instructions and data temporarily orpermanently. Examples of such media may include, but is not limited to,random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flashmemory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types ofstorage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) or anysuitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” may alsobe taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, thatis capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by amachine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or moreof the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readablemedium” may refer to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as“cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiplestorage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium”excludes signals per se.

The I/O components 718 may include a wide variety of components toprovide a user interface for receiving input, providing output,producing output, transmitting information, exchanging information,capturing measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 718 thatare included in the user interface of a particular machine 700 willdepend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such asmobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other suchinput mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely notinclude such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/Ocomponents 718 may include many other components that are not shown inFIG. 7 . The I/O components 718 are grouped according to functionalitymerely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is inno way limiting. In various exemplary embodiments, the I/O components718 may include output components 726 and input components 728. Theoutput components 726 may include visual components (e.g., a displaysuch as a plasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED)display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode raytube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components(e.g., a vibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signalgenerators, and so forth. The input components 728 may includealphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screenconfigured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, orother alphanumeric input components), point based input components(e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, orother pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physicalbutton, a touch screen that provides location or force of touches ortouch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio inputcomponents (e.g., a microphone), and the like. The input components 728may also include one or more image-capturing devices, such as a digitalcamera for generating digital images or video.

In further exemplary embodiments, the I/O components 718 may includebiometric components 730, motion components 734, environmentalenvironment components 736, or position components 738, as well as awide array of other components. One or more of such components (orportions thereof) may collectively be referred to herein as a “sensorcomponent” or “sensor” for collecting various data related to themachine 700, the environment of the machine 700, a user of the machine700, or a combinations thereof.

For example, the biometric components 730 may include components todetect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocalexpressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g.,blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brainwaves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinalidentification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, orelectroencephalogram based identification), and the like. The motioncomponents 734 may include acceleration sensor components (e.g.,accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, velocity sensorcomponents (e.g., speedometer), rotation sensor components (e.g.,gyroscope), and so forth. The environment components 736 may include,for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer),temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometer that detectambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensorcomponents (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one ormore microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensorcomponents (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gassensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detection concentrations ofhazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere),or other components that may provide indications, measurements, orsignals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. Theposition components 738 may include location sensor components (e.g., aGlobal Position system (GPS) receiver component), altitude sensorcomponents (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure fromwhich altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g.,magnetometers), and the like. For example, the location sensor componentmay provide location information associated with the system 700, such asthe system's 700 GPS coordinates or information regarding a location thesystem 700 is at currently (e.g., the name of a restaurant or otherbusiness).

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 718 may include communication components 740 operableto couple the machine 700 to a network 732 or devices 720 via coupling722 and coupling 724 respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 740 may include a network interface component or othersuitable device to interface with the network 732. In further examples,communication components 740 may include wired communication components,wireless communication components, cellular communication components,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g.,Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents to provide communication via other modalities. The devices720 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheraldevices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus(USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 740 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 740 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components740, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Where a phrase similar to “at least one of A, B, or C,” “at least one ofA, B, and C,” “one or more A, B, or C,” or “one or more of A, B, and C”is used, it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that Aalone may be present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in anembodiment, C alone may be present in an embodiment, or that anycombination of the elements A, B and C may be present in a singleembodiment; for example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and dataas described below and in the drawings that form a part of thisdocument: Copyright 2016, SNAP, INC. 2016, All Rights Reserved.

Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These andother changes or modifications are intended to be included within thescope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a processor; and memory coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising: receiving an electronic communication from a first computing device of a first user; transmitting the electronic communication to a second computing device of a second user; analyzing content within the electronic communication to determine a mood of the first user; retrieving, from a database, avatar characteristics associated with the first user; generating an avatar of the first user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics associated with the first user and the determined mood of the first user; causing presentation of the electronic communication within a chat interface window displayed on a respective display screen coupled to the first computing device and the second computing device, wherein the chat interface window corresponds to a group conversation between participants including the first user and the second user, and wherein the chat interface window includes a border along which respective avatars of the participants are displayed, including the generated avatar of the first user; determining that the first user has muted the group conversation, not participated in the group conversation for a predetermined period of time, changed to an away status with respect to the group conversation or changed to a do not disturb status with respect to the group conversation; and causing, based on the determining, presentation of the avatar of the first user to be in a contracted state relative to the border.
 2. The system of claim 1, the operations further comprising: analyzing content within a plurality of electronic communications exchanged between the first computing device and the second computing device to identify a tone associated with the content; determining the mood of the first user and a mood of the second user based on the identified tone of the content; retrieving, from the database, avatar characteristics associated with the second user; and generating an avatar of the second user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics associated with the second user and the determined mood of the second user.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the avatar of the first user includes: retrieving an image of a face of the first user via a camera coupled to the first computing device; and generating facial features of the avatar based on the image of the first user's face.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the content within the electronic communication includes audio content, and wherein determining the mood of the first user includes performing a voice analysis on the audio content.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the content within the electronic communication includes text input, and wherein determining the mood of the first user includes performing a text analysis on the text input.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the mood of the first user is based on input from the first user via the first computing device, the input comprising one or more mood selections.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising: receiving supplemental information specific to the first user, wherein determining the mood of the first user is further based on the supplemental information, and wherein the supplemental information corresponds to at least one of: a calendar entry stored on the first computing device, the calendar entry being specific to the first user, a social network entry stored in association with a user account corresponding to the first user, or motion sensor data which is associated with the first computing device and which corresponds to a user activity of the first user.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the mood of the first user includes determining a level of the mood among a plurality of mood levels, the level of the mood comprising a numeric scale, and wherein the plurality of mood levels includes a first mood level and a second mood level, the first mood level having a lesser mood level than the second mood level.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the system determines the mood level for the first user as the first mood level, and wherein generating the avatar of the first user includes depicting a first expression on a face of the avatar corresponding to the first mood level.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the system determines the mood level for the first user as the second mood level, and wherein generating the avatar of the first user includes depicting a second expression on the face of the avatar corresponding to the second mood level, the second expression being different from the first expression.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the mood for the first user is further based on a relationship between the first user and the second user.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the group conversation is between the first user, the second user, and a third user, wherein determining the mood for the first user includes determining a second mood for the first user based on a relationship between the first user and the third user, and wherein generating the avatar of the first user includes: generating a first avatar for the first user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics and the determined mood of the first user; and generating a second avatar for the first user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics and the second determined mood of the first user.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein causing presentation of the avatar of the first user includes: causing presentation of the first avatar of the first user on the display screen of the second computing device; and causing presentation of the second avatar of the first user on a display screen of a third computing device of the third user.
 14. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving an electronic communication from a first computing device of a first user; transmitting the electronic communication to a second computing device of a second user; analyzing content within the electronic communication to determine a mood of the first user; retrieving, from a database, avatar characteristics associated with the first user; generating an avatar of the first user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics associated with the first user and the determined mood of the first user; causing presentation of the electronic communication within a chat interface window displayed on a respective display screen coupled to the first computing device and the second computing device, wherein the chat interface window corresponds to a group conversation between participants including the first user and the second user, and wherein the chat interface window includes a border along which respective avatars of the participants are displayed, including the generated avatar of the first user; determining that the first user has muted the group conversation, not participated in the group conversation for a predetermined period of time, changed to an away status with respect to the group conversation or changed to a do not disturb status with respect to the group conversation; and causing, based on the determining, presentation of the avatar of the first user to be in a contracted state relative to the border.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: analyzing content within a plurality of electronic communications exchanged between the first computing device and the second computing device to identify a tone associated with the content; determining the mood of the first user and a mood of the second user based on the identified tone of the content; retrieving, from the database, avatar characteristics associated with the second user; and generating an avatar of the second user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics associated with the second user and the determined mood of the second user.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein generating the avatar of the first user includes: retrieving an image of a face of the first user via a camera coupled to the first computing device; and generating facial features of the avatar based on the image of the first user's face.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the content within the electronic communication includes audio content, and wherein determining the mood of the first user includes performing a voice analysis on the audio content.
 18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising: receiving an electronic communication from a first computing device of a first user; transmitting the electronic communication to a second computing device of a second user; analyzing content within the electronic communication to determine a mood of the first user; retrieving, from a database, avatar characteristics associated with the first user; generating an avatar of the first user based on the retrieved avatar characteristics associated with the first user and the determined mood of the first user; causing presentation of the electronic communication within a chat interface window displayed on a respective display screen coupled to the first computing device and the second computing device, wherein the chat interface window corresponds to a group conversation between participants including the first user and the second user, and wherein the chat interface window includes a border along which respective avatars of the participants are displayed, including the generated avatar of the first user; determining that the first user has muted the group conversation, not participated in the group conversation for a predetermined period of time, changed to an away status with respect to the group conversation or changed to a do not disturb status with respect to the group conversation; and causing, based on the determining, presentation of the avatar of the first user to be in a contracted state relative to the border. 